Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte urged the Chinese embassy to take back 1,000 doses of Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine donated earlier by Beijing in response to the rising criticism over his vaccination with a drug not yet authorized for use in the country, national media reported on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th May, 2021) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte urged the Chinese embassy to take back 1,000 doses of Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine donated earlier by Beijing in response to the rising criticism over his vaccination with a drug not yet authorized for use in the country, national media reported on Thursday.
"Tell Sinopharm to withdraw so Sinopharm will not be available in the Philippines so there are no more worries. Anyway, it's just 1,000 vaccines," Duterte was cited as saying by Rappler news portal.
The Philippine president responded to criticisms in his public address to the head of the country's vaccination campaign, Carlito Galvez. Duterte also personally spoke with the Chinese Ambassador, Huang Xilian, about the matter, the news portal stated.
On May 3, Duterte got the first shot of the donated Sinopharm vaccine despite it being unauthorized for emergency use by the country's drug regulator, the Philippine food and Drug Administration. He later defended the controversial decision as a "personal choice" made based on the doctor's recommendation, Rappler said.
According to presidential spokesman Harry Roque, one dose of the Sinopharm vaccine will be left in the country so that Duterte can receive his second shot as scheduled.
So far, the Philippines approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, as well as ones by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Johnson & Johnson, Bharat Biotech and Moderna.
The first 15,000 doses of Sputnik V reportedly arrived in the country on Saturday.
